Politics are slowly ruining the world of sports.
Nonsense that occurs in the political realm is cropping up in athletics.
And one hate hoax got new life after a school made a big announcement.
Hoax-hate incidents have become a plague in American culture.
Not only do they unjustly damage the reputation of innocent people, they undermine people’s faith in actual hate crimes.
For example, Hollywood actor Jussie Smollett made a mockery of hate crime victims by pretending to be assaulted by MAGA hat-wearing Republicans in downtown Chicago in subzero weather.
The entire story was a fraud, but Smollett to this day will not admit what he did.
Another dubious hate incident that won’t go away involves BYU volleyball.
Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson claimed that BYU fans hurled racial slurs at her for two hours during the match, but an investigation showed that there was no proof anyone said anything derogatory.
Nevertheless, South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball coach canceled a game against BYU based on Richardson’s story.
Now another university is declining to play BYU as a result of the alleged racist incident.
From Outkick:
“BYU is still facing backlash from a debunked accusation of racism made at a women’s volleyball game against Duke, hosted at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah. The accusations made by Duke player Rachel Richardson alleged that she heard a BYU fan shout a racial slur at her during the match on Aug. 26. As a result of the controversy, the University of Pacific announced Monday that its women’s volleyball team is forfeiting its upcoming match against BYU, initially scheduled for Thursday. Pacific released a statement to OutKick noting that its forfeiture stems from concerns within the Tigers women’s team of a “racist and hostile” environment at Smith Fieldhouse. BYU investigated Richardson’s story and found no corroborating evidence to the Duke sophomore’s claims — the school referred to its investigation in a statement sent to OutKick on Monday afternoon, following Pacific’s decision.”
BYU investigated the incident and initially suspended a special needs fan who approached the Duke players after the game.
The players claimed that the fan in question was the one who hurled the racist insults, but video evidence and eyewitness accounts proved that was false.
BYU said in a statement:
“The University of the Pacific’s decision to forfeit this week’s women’s volleyball match is unwarranted and deeply disappointing…As we have stated previously, BYU will not tolerate any conduct that would make a student-athlete feel unsafe in our athletic environments. It is unfortunate that Pacific would make a decision that perpetuates the very challenge we are working to heal in our polarized society…BYU continues to provide one of the best environments in college volleyball.”
Despite zero evidence, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars are being affected by these cancellations.
On top of that, BYU’s reputation has been sullied, all without a shred of evidence.
This is what happens when politics bleed into the sports world.
